Impossible to Ignore

Capturing the passion of Korea’s youth at the Winter Games.

For the launch of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, we were asked to work alongside Nike to develop the creative concept, strategy and an accompanying suite of assets for use in a brand activation that coincided with the arrival of the Games in the country, including a retail, digital and OOH launch across Korea, as well as a total takeover of the Zaha Hadid-designed Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul.

The campaign combined sporting passion with innovation, giving visitors and media an early preview of Nike’s new React foam at the House of Go, a space within the DDP that launched the technology.

Approach

Our design concept – Impossible to Ignore – attempts to empower South Korean youth in their desire to break free from traditional cultural structures and confound expectations, a common theme in the research done prior to the project. In doing so, we represented the duality of local young athletes’ personality: the person you see on the outside and person on the inside fighting to get out. The accompanying photography, shot by Kenneth Cappello and seen above, highlights this duality using the red and blue of the South Korean flag.

Work

We took over the DDP with bespoke Winter Games creative, including striking projection-mapped videos across its exterior. A running route around the building was delineated using coloured light and further giant-size projections.

Inside, a tunnel of interactive screens, showing animations created with artist Karan Singh, reacted to the movements of passers-by, drawing them into the experience. A photobooth installation also allowed visitors to create profile images that represent the duality of their own personality.

The House of Go, also within the DDP, played host to the public launch of Nike’s Epic React Flyknit. At the end of the press conference, a dedicated React space was revealed that illustrated the shoe’s design philosophy, as well as allowing media and influencers to experience it for the first time. Installations included an anamorphic Swoosh, surrounded by an army of mannequins, that assembled and disassembled itself as visitors moved around it.

Alongside Nike we used the visuals we created to develop retail experiences in locations across Korea. They further spread the spirit of Impossible to Ignore by using anamorphic typography, floating mannequins and mirrored surfaces to reveal hidden elements.

The accompanying apparel collection was further showcased in Gangnam and Seoul, where it was launched with a performance by athletes in front of a neon ice sculpture and an extensive OOH campaign respectively.